Dispensing apparatus



Sept. 26, 1950 N. c. MOORE msrmsmcmrr mmus 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec.8, 1945 INVENTOI? NC. MOORE ATTORNEY Sept. 26, 1950 Filed 1m. a, 19 15N. C.. MOORE DISPENSING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-PSheet 2 INVENTOR N-C MOORE ATTORNEV Sept. 26, 1 950- N, c. oons misPEysmc magmas 4 Sheetg-Shget 3filed Dec. 8, 1945' A TTORNEY .ing drawingsjwherein. Fig.1 is yafrontelevational. vie.

Patented Sept. 26, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DISPENSING:APPARATUS Norman 0., Moore, West Newhury, Mass, assignor to WesternElectric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of NewYork Application. December 8, 1945, Serial No. 633,893.

This: invention. relates. to dispensing apparatus. and more particularlyto apparatus for dispen r ing flat articles such as laminations, forcores. of

electrical units.

The various typesof laminations used in the 3 Claims. (01. 214-85);

forming of cores for electrical, units are usually 'i selected manuallyandconsiderable time may be required, not only to count the. numberoflarninations, bu-tto assemble. them inproper stacked formation.

An object of thisinventionisto provide adistable to support a-.-s.upplyof. .flat, articlesor laminations, a shelf.- movably mounted. at oneendof the table. to receivea given number of the articles as determined by;the setting, of a stop OIL the shelf, and mechanism operated to. holdthe. re.-

maining articlesof the supply against movement while the givennumberofarticleson the shelf are removed therefrom,

More specifically, the. shelf isvv .pivotally' supported at the exitendof the table toward which of the apparatus, portions thereof beingshown in section;

Fi 3 is a fragmentary top plan view taken substantiallyalongthe line 33of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken from one side of the frontportion of the apparatus; and,

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectionalview taken along the line. 5.-5 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, the apparatus includes a hollow frame orbase which supports a table formed of two sections ,l l and 12 connectedat the meeting-line [3 as shown in Fig. 3. These table sectionshaveupper surfaces which lie in a common plane and have, pairs of spacedguides l4 and I mounted thereon. The

distance between each pair of guides depends upon the length of thearticles which are to be side, edges.

the supply of articles or laminations-are-constantly urged by'a bar: Afluid operated gripper, functioning in -cooperation with the table. is

bya slide, thelattennormally supportingnthe; shelf inits receivingposition.- During, the first partial movement of the handle. from itsnormal position, an arm,-carried bytheslide, releases the valvetooperate the grippingelement. Further movement of the handle causes-theslide to free the shelf which it normally supports in its upwardposition so that the shelf may? move downwardly, by gravity, about itspivot to position the group of laminations thereon free of the supply.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the, following,idetailedj description when considered in conjunction with theaccompanywet the dispensing. apparatus, a. portionlthereofbeing broken-Fig. 2 s a fragmentar at elevational view caused tooperate through theopening of avalve' to grip the last article. of the supplyadjacentqtheThe. feeding means for the articles includes a movable-element I8 which,extends laterally .of

the table and. is supported by guide rods IS, the latterextendingthrough openings 20 (Fig-.5.) in the. element It. The inner ends of theguide rods I 9 are threadedlydisposed in suitable apertures 2| (Fig. 3)in their respective guides l5, while the rearmost ends of the. guiderods are supported in a bracket 23; The bracket 23 is fixedly mountedupon the table byscrews 24- and has apertures'25 to. receive the guiderods t9, the

latter having their outer ends reducedas at 26 to receive a wrench sothat the guide rods may be removed and replaced by other rods ifsodesired. The element I8 has cables 28 fixed to: the

outer ends thereof, the cables extending over.

their respective pulleys 29 and through apertures 30 in the base Ill andalso apertures 3| in a'bench 32 upon which the apparatus is mounted. Thecables further extend around pulleys 33 and 34 (Fig; 1), after whichthey are connected to a weight 3.5 which supplies the force necessarytomove the. element. [8 and cause movement of the supply of articles I6toward the exit end of the: table. 1

A shelf 38 has legs 39. which extend into. cut away portions 40 of. thetable, that is, the adjacent section l2 thereof where they are mountedupon. a pivot or shaft 4|. The shaft. 4| is mounted in suitable hearingsin the table. When the shelf 38 is in its normal position, the uppersurface 42 thereof is irr the plane of the upper surface. of

the springs 53.

3 the table so that the articles may be moved from the table onto theshelf. The portion of the table indicated at 44 between the legs 39 ofthe shelf the space they are to consume between the portions 41 and thelast article of;the supply on the the handle in this direction, thepinion I3 causes movement of the rack 14 to move the slide 16 (Fig. 2)to the left, moving with it the arm 18 to free the valve plunger 80 toopen the valve 59. The unit 5'! is therefore actuated by the applicationof a fluid under pressure thereto to move the plunger 56 thereofdownwardly and move the element 52 into gripping position. The leadingarticle of the supply adjacent the articles on the -helf has thereforebeen firmly gripped between the reduced portion 55 and the table.Furthermore, the gripping element has been assisted by the pressure pad60 in holding the articles retable. Resilient members or springs 54)mounted upon the shelf 38 extend inwardly toward the table beyond theexit end of the table to hold the articles moved onto the shelf against.accidental displacement during the lowering of the shelf-to theposition shown in Fig. 4.

A gripping element 52 is supported adjacent .article of the supplyadjacent the, group which has been moved'lonto'th'e shelf.,.The reducedportion 55 is normally positioned above. the supply of articles and heldin that position by The element ismoved into its gripping'position by aplunger 56 of an air cylinder unit .57. The .unit 5'! is supported by abracket 58 and is underthe control of a. valve .59, (Figs.'2, 3, and 4).Apressure pad 6!} carried byscrews 5! is positioned to assist thegripping element in holding the articles of the supply by ,applyingpressure to a plurality of the articles back of thereduced portion 55 asillustrated in Fig. 4. The pressure applied to the pad is receivedfromsprings 52 partially housed in the .element 5 2; The screws 6! aremovable in aperturesin. the element 52, their heads 64, limiting Vthedownward movement of the pressure pad.

A shaft .15 is journalled insuitablebearings H the base 50 and isrotated by the aid of a "handle 12; 'A pinion T3 is keyed to the shaft1D and interengages a rack 14. The rack 74 is sup- .maining in thesupply from forward movement.

Continued movement of the handle 12 causes continued movement of theslide 16 to free the shelf 38 so that it may move, by gravity, about itspivot to the position shown in Fig. 4. While in thisposition, thearticles may be readily removed from the shelf'in their stackedformation, an accurate number of the articles being in this group due toto the measured distance between the stops 49 and the edge of the table.The apparatus may now be returned to its normal position by moving thehandle 12 from the dotted position to the'full-line position shown inFig. 2 to first return the shelf 38 to its upward position by themovement of the slide 16 to the right, after whichthe, arm 78, with itsscrew 79,

will move the pmngr'ao; of the valve inwardly to again close the valveand permit the fluid in the unit to escape by any conventional means(not shown). Theelement 52, with its pressure pad 60, will be. movedupwardly by the force of the springs, 53 to free the supply of articlesfor movement to the right by thelcontinued force of the element l8 Thesprings' 5ll hold the leading the bracket 23 and fil1 the space betweenthe element and the articles on the table with an tion and to releasethe shelf for itsmov'ement downward tothe position shown in Fig; 4. Theslide 16 also supports'ari arm-18 which carries'an "adjustable screw 19positioned to engage a'valve 1 the element It rearwardly (to the leftFigs. 2 and 3) by the aid of its handle 8 I. The apparatus as shown inFigs. 2 and 3 is in its normal position with the shelf 38 in alignmentwith'the table. The weight 35 has caused forward movement of the elementl 8 to move the entire supply of articles to the right to load the shelfwith the given number of articles. The operator may, at this time, movethe handle "from the solid line position shown in Fi g. 2 to the dottedposition shown in this figure. During the first portion-or approximatelyone quarter of the movement of the handle 12 from added number ofarticles to replenish the supply.

With this mechanism, a. predetermined variable number of articles may bedispensed in'stacked formation merelyby the rocking movement of itsnormal to its operating position. .Although specific improvements of theinvention have been shown and described, it will be understood thatth'eyare but illustrative and that various modifications may be made thereinwithoutdeparting from the "scope and spirit of this invention as'definedby the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1'.A dispensing apparatus comprising a table having a support surfacefor a supply of closely positioned fiat articles resting edgewise on thetable, a shelf, pivotally supported at an exit end of the table andhaving a supporting surface lying in the plane of they supportingsurface of the table when in its; loading position, movable to anunloading position, a slide movable beneath the table and the shelf tohold the shelf in its loading position, free the shelf for movement intoits unloadin glpo'sition and move the shelf into its loading position,means to move the slide,

actuable means including an element cooperating with the table to gripthe article at the exit end of the table to hold the supply of articleson the table against movement, and unit operable by the slide when movedin one direction to cause actuation of the last named means prior to theslide releasing the shelf for movement into its unloading position.

2. A dispensing apparatus comprising a, table having a support surfacefor a supply of closely positioned fiat articles resting edgewise on thetable, a, shelf, pivotally supported at an exit end of the table andhaving a supporting surface lying in the plane of the supporting surfaceof the table when in its loading position, movable to an unloadingposition, a slide movable beneath the table and. the shelf to hold theshelf in its loading position, free the shelf for movement into itsunloading position and move the shelf into its loading position, meansto move the slide, means urging the supply of articles toward and ontothe shelf, a stop on the shelf to limit the number of articles to beloaded on the shelf, actuable means including an element cooperatingwith the table to grip the article at the exit end of the table to holdthe supply of articles on the table against movement, and a unitoperable by the slide when moved in one direction to cause actuation ofthe last named means prior to the slide releasing the shelf for movementinto its unloading position, and also operable by the slide when movedin the opposite direction to cause the actuable means and element torelease the leading article of the supply subsequent to the return ofthe shelf to its loading position by the slide.

3. A dispensing apparatus comprising a table to support a supply of fiatarticles, a, shelf pivotally supported at the exit end of the table formovement between a loading position in alignment with the table and anunloading position away from the table, a stop on the shelf to limit thenumber of articles moved onto the shelf, means to, move the supply ofarticles to feed given number of the articles to the shelf, a fluidactuated gripping means to cause gripping of the first article of thesupply adjacent the given number of articles on the shelf, a fluidcontrol valve actuable to cause operation of the gripping means, anelement movable in one direction to move the shelf into its leadingposition and movable in another direction to free the shelf for movementinto its unloading position, means to move the element alternately inthe said directions, and means movable with the element to actuate thevalve during predetermined portions of the movements of the element tocause the gripping means to be actuated into gripping position prior tothe time the element frees the shelf for movement out of its loadingposition and to cause the grippin mean to be actuated out of grippingposition after the shelf returns to the loading position.

NORMAN C. MOORE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,854,446 Campbell Apr. 19, 19321,870,207 Washburne Aug. 2, 1932 2,065,674 Fay, Jr. Dec. 29, 1936

